A Course of Modern Analysis


A Course of Modern Analysis: an introduction to the general theory of infinite processes and of analytic functions; with an account of the principal transcendental functions is a landmark textbook on mathematical analysis written by E. T. Whittaker and G. N. Watson, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1902. The first edition was Whittaker's alone, but later editions were co-authored with Watson.

History

Its first, second, third, and the fourth, last edition were published in 1902, 1915, 1920, and 1927, respectively. Since then, it has continuously been reprinted and is still in print today.
The book is notable for being the standard reference and textbook for a generation of Cambridge mathematicians including Littlewood and G. H. Hardy. Mary Cartwright studied it as preparation for her final honours on the advice of fellow student V.C. Morton, later Professor of Mathematics at Aberystwyth University. But its reach was much further than just the Cambridge school; André Weil in his obituary of the French mathematician Jean Delsarte noted that Delsarte always had a copy on his desk.
Some idiosyncratic but interesting problems from an older era of the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos are in the exercises.

Section numbering

The book was one of the earliest to use decimal numbering for its sections, an innovation the authors attribute to Giuseppe Peano.

Contents

Below are the contents of the fourth edition:
;Part I. The Process of Analysis
;Part II. The Transcendental Functions